Amazon is increasing prices for its Prime membership scheme across its major European markets, several months after raising fees for US customers, in a move intended to offset the ecommerce giant’s operating costs (The Financial Times £).
The technology giant said that it would raise the price of Prime from £7.99 per month to £8.99 from September 15 for new customers or on the date of a customer’s next renewal (The Times £).
The company said the cost of an annual Prime package, which includes unlimited deliveries for online shopping, access to its video and music streaming services and its Amazon Fresh grocery deliveries, would rise by more – 20%, or £16 – to £95, although this remains a discount on the monthly option (The Guardian).
The Financial Times (£) published a long read on how the Morrisons buyout turned into a nightmare for Goldman Sachs. “Mega-deal went from dream ticket to a symbol of the excesses of cheap-money era,” the paper writes.
Premier Foods is buying The Spice Tailor in its first acquisition for 16 years (The Times £). It said The Spice Tailor’s products would complement its Loyd Grossman and Sharwood’s brands and would help it to tap into the trend for “scratch cooking”.
Food writer and TV chef Anjum Anand and husband Adarsh Sethia founded the business in 2010 (The Mail). They each own between 25% and 50%, putting them in line for a payout from Premier of at least £21.9m.
Aldi has raised pay for shop workers for the second time in a year in the latest sign of the intense competition for workers in the UK (The Guardian).
The discounter will pay store staff outside London £10.50 per hour from September, a 3.9% increase from the £10.10 rate set in January (The Financial Times £).
Tesco is offering free children’s meals with any purchase at its supermarket cafes during the school summer holidays to help families struggling with the cost of living crisis (The Guardian).
The future of Naked Wines was placed under a cloud last night when it emerged that its chief financial officer had left only a month after a profit warning (The Times £).
TikTok is turning teenagers into junk food influencers by encouraging them to promote unhealthy food on personal accounts, a study has found (The Times £). Researchers say brands including McDonald’s, Doritos, Lay’s crisps and Pepsi use the social media site to bombard youngsters with videos for their products.
The Southern Co-op chain is facing a legal challenge to its use of facial recognition technology to cut crime (BBC News). Big Brother Watch has complained to the Information Commissioner’s Office about biometric cameras at its shops.
‘The American dream is flying again for WH Smith’ (The Times £). The chief executive of the retailer’s operations in the United States is looking ahead after coping with Covid shutdowns.
Walmart has issued its second profit warning in 10 weeks, signalling a further deterioration in the US retail environment as inflation weighs on the price-sensitive consumers on whom the world’s largest retailer depends (The Financial Times £).
Walmart downgraded its annual profit guidance last night as soaring inflation prompts people to spend more on food and fuel and less on the chain’s general merchandise (The Times £).
Alibaba’s push to rival Amazon by bringing US businesses on to its ecommerce platform has struggled to meet its targets, dealing a blow to the Chinese tech giant’s global expansion plans (The Financial Times £).
No comments yet